Weather service notes nuke-effect snow in western Pennsylvania

Jan. 25, 2013

Well, not quite, but the National Weather Service says a nuclear power plant was partly responsible for a narrow band of snow that fell on parts of western Pennsylvania Tuesday night.

Meteorologist Lee Hendricks says steam pumped into the air from two cooling towers at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station and three similar towers at the coal-fired Bruce Mansfield Station next to it created the snow. That happened because the steam was released into very cold, dry air above the power plants, both owned by Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy.

Hendricks says the plant-fueled snow is similar to lake-effect snow.

Areas due east of the power plants — which are about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh — reported one to three inches of snow.